OptInRealBig.com and its owner, Scott Richter, have filed for bankruptcy. OptInRealBig is a one-time spamming operation that now purports to have “gone clean.” OptInRealBig and Scott once garnered third place on Spamhaus’s ROKSO (Register of Known Spam Operations) list.

There is no reason to jump for joy. Despite what Microsoft and others might say, these guys are not dead yet. As Steven Richter, Scott’s father and company counsel stated, these filings were done simply to consolidate various lawsuits for restructuring reasons. I have not seen the filings, but it has been noted that Microsoft, which is suing the company for $20 million, is listed as OptInRealBig’s largest unsecured creditor. Counsel must assume the company is worth more than that, otherwise they would expect to lose everything to the monster from Redmond.

Richter and Company may be looking to tie this thing up in court ever longer, hoping that Microsoft will tire of pesky legal costs, but that is quite a gamble. If they can get all of their creditors to take some cents on the dollar for their claim, and are prepared to inject new money into the business, they can come out a few dollars short from their personal pocketbooks, but continue to control the business going forward.

Microsoft hasn’t won a judgement yet, which means Richter’s and the company’s fate will be on hold for some time. You can be certain they have built up a cash pile to keep them running prior to exiting the court system, so I doubt we have seen the last of OptInRealBig.

I will try to grab the court filings sometime today. If someone catches them first, please send them over. Thanks!